Wat Rachaburana, Ayutthaya

From afar Monkey saw the "Prang"
stood high and proud
"I wanna go there I wanna go!!!"
Khun Chai our beloved tourist guide: "Yes we are on our way there."
its name Wat Rachaburana
Wat = temple
this place is more than 500 years old

from its door way at the entrance to its collapsed hall

inside the collapsed roof-less hall

woooooooooooooo
it's really high~~~~~
JS: "Let's climb it!!!"
Monkey tilted her head high n surveyed the steps
OMG there's no handle no railing!!!
dun they practice safety here in Thailand????
once I was up there!!!
Wow the view was breathtaking

ppl looked so tiny down there :P

erosion over time unveiled the layers of its wall

inside there's more tunnels goin down linkin the Prang with other lil towers nearby

rows of Buddha statues lining there
but all u can see were ruins of them

one of the many chedis
more chedis

I wondered how old is that tree!!!
must be as old as this place....

Off topic:
Dinos's beloved dad passed away yesterday
:'((
May God Bless his soul.

Wat Mahathat, Ayutthaya

a BMW tuk tuk in Ayutthaya
hahhhhahahah
Wat Mahathat was built in 1374
served as a royal monastery
it was home to the head monk then
this place is huge
since it was so hot and sunny we only circled a few cluster of interesting sites

some of the prangs collapsed over the years due to earthquakes

u can see some of the ruins were leaning on one side

but the main attraction was this one
:))))))))))))))))
the head of the Buddha was wrapped around by this Bodhi tree
it's funny how nature created this

Wat Chaiwatthanaram, Ayutthaya

Wat Chaiwatthanaram is the most beautiful temple
lies just outside the border of Ayutthaya Kingdom
by the Chao Phraya river banks.
constructed in 1630 by King Prasat Thong
dedicated to his mother
Wat Chaiwatthanaram translates to Temple of LONG REIGN and Glorious era.
sooooooo LONG
"What is the name of this place?"
Our driver cum tourist guide Khun Chai in such a passionate tone: "Wat Chaiwatthanarram"

"Wat wat wat??? wat RAM???"
both tourist guide and JS -_-"
constructed in Khmer style
eh readers...we are not in Cambodia OK?
still in Thailand.
See the tallest one there?
it's a 35 metres "Prang"
*dun ask me wat is prang -_-*
surrounded by smaller Chedis
princes and princesses were cremated inside the Chedis
and all the 8 Chedis were connected through underground passageway
*just like pyramids*
remains of a Buddha Statue
there were hundreds of them here.
some were reconstructed
look at the head..they are new.
very hot, sunny and cloudless day
we were busy circulating this place to enjoy/hate the sun
him enjoy, me hate.
*I'm sure all of u know tat by now*
main draw of this place is to climb the Prang
easy peasy eh?
only some flights of stairs...
not like I've never climbed stairs before
after 3 steps
*huffed & puffed*

FARK!!! why is it so STEEP?
Look!!! each step = 4 bricks!!!
Do u know how high was each step???
and each step can barely accommodate my Monkey foot!!!
so small!!!!
I was clinging on to my LIFE!!!!
then I looked up
JS was already up there.

"wat are u??? huh???"
JS: "If u eat less u'll make it up here."
Monkey was crawling up all the way like a slow pig
Khun Chai must be luffing at me down there.

Halfway up there...I turned around and looked down
BIG MISTAKE~~~~
Monkey let out a scream
I bet the whole Kingdom of Ayutthata heard me

"NO~~~~~ I'm gonna get down!!!!"
but HOW?
the steps were so small I found it so difficult to turn my body and alight down
Later I found out, u must go down just the way u climbed up
which was reverse down coz u can never ever face the royalty with you BUTT
and the reason they made it so steep.....so that u are climbing up with your hands
on the steps...with bended knees.

No reason for bended knees
coz I can't feel my knees at ALL!!!!!
*Pics stolen fr JS's camera*
his camera can do the above not my toy camera
actually hor....I've stolen quite a number of pics fr his camera
kekekekkekeke
Monkey the city slicker and Mr-Know-it-all

this was the first WAT we visited when we reached Ayutthaya
I didn't know that it's gonna be a long hot day visiting more of these beautiful ruins
for therre were 166 WATS in Ayutthaya
GAH!!!!

Wat Phra Non, Ayutthaya

Ayutthaya or Ayudthaya was Thailand/Siam's ancient capital
the fist king of Thai ruled the country here from 1350

it's about 1.5hours to 2 hours drive from Bangkok
and u definitely need a good guide to bring u around

Si Fu Lawrence recommended Khun Chai
*khun = mister*
who brought us around
Khun Chai speaks perfect french and english
to visit Ayutthaya u'll need the whole day
with so many things to see....
must say it is one of the most beautiful ancient city I've been

The ancient Kingdom of Ayutthaya sat on an island
hmmmm how do I go about this...it's an island in within the land surrounded by rivers and canals....
not the island out on the sea.

so the whole kingdom was in this lil island....by the valley of Chao Phraya
and we went to visit the largest reclining Buddha in Ayutthaya
Wat Phra Non
didn't I said it's farking HUGE?!?!?!?!

U better watch your mouth lil monkey
my feet can damn slap/stomp you ok???
wow....such beautiful BIG toe nails...
visitors bought gold leaves and paste it there
Manicure pedicure mar~~~~~

comparison of my nails and Buddha's toe nails

I felt so small tiny and helpless

most of the place were in ruins
and yet so beautiful

words can't describe
u need to be there to see it

:))))))))))))))